design process

this question has come up a few times in the past week: someone asks me “what is your design process?”

it’s simple. I think about what I want to wear, and then I make it. Or I think about what I’d want to wear if my life were a little different (like, say, I went to parties more) and then I make that.

we’re all, of course, constantly and unconsciously influenced by that which we see around us. but I tend to not seek out direct design stimulation. museums give me a sense of claustrophobia (no matter how big they are) and I’m a little intimidated by shopping, since I rarely buy anything.

looking at fashion magazines/ websites was entertaining for the first ten years (like, until I was 22), but now it’s just repetitive and uninspiring.

department stores or anyplace with large quantities of merchandise are depressing.

but sometimes I’ll see something: a new technique, or an old technique that suddenly strikes me as fresh. This happened in Berlin: I saw this necklace that was knitted- clearly on small needles- and the knit loops form a chain. I’ve seen this style necklace before, and there are lots of them on etsy. But it made me want to learn to knit. (I don’t even want to make that necklace, or a necklace, or anything like that.) Suddenly, the technology of knitting appealed to me.

Another thing that happened in Berlin- due to my ‘traveling light’ I didn’t have warm enough clothes at the end of the trip- and bought some very cheap leggings and leg warmers at a depressing chain store.